SHREVEPORT—The Centenary men’s basketball team played almost the entire game with only two subs available, but got key contributions from sophomores Nick Stallings and Lance Hill to end its seven-game slide in a 70-63 win over Southern Utah. Stallings enjoyed a banner evening, scoring a career-high 20 points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Centenary (8-17, 2-8 Mid-Con) found itself behind by eight points in the first 10 minutes of the game when Steve Barnes’ jumper put Southern Utah on top 20-12. The Gents responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game for the first time on back-to-back three-pointers from Tyrone Hamilton and a jumper from Stallings.

The game turned into a scrappy fight from that point on as neither team led by more than four points over the next 23 minutes of action. In all, the contest would feature 11 ties and six lead changes.

Centenary suffered a set-back when senior starter Larry Logan was injured due to a hard fall after an intentional foul on a breakaway opportunity. Logan left the game and did not return after only 11 minutes on the court.

Despite playing without one of its floor leaders, Centenary hung close and the teams ended the first half in a 35-35 tie. The Thunderbirds were carried by 11 first-half points by Barnes while Hamilton and Stallings alternated scoring opportunities for the Gents in ending the period with 13 and 10 points respectively.

Southern Utah (15-9, 5-4 Mid-Con) looked like a one-man show as Barnes continued to be the focus of the T-Bird offense in the second half. His jumper at the 12:13 mark put SUU on top for the last time at 49-48. Just seconds later, Hamilton sank another jumper to give the Gents the advantage and Centenary never trailed again.

With the game still undecided and the Maroon and White clinging to only a three-point lead at 64-61 with 1:08 left, Alexander Starr drove the baseline and finished with an emphatic one-handed dunk in the face of a Southern Utah defender to provide the breathing distance needed to put the game away.

Stallings and Hill each made two free throws apiece down the stretch to close out the contest.

Barnes finished with 23 points on 10-of-23 shooting and added six rebounds and six assists for the visiting Thunderbirds. Tate Sorenson proved very productive off the bench as he added 15 points and eight boards in the loss.

Hamilton led Centenary with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-7 from long distance. Stallings’ 20 points came on 9-of-18 shooting and Hill contributed 12 points and five boards off the bench for the Gents. Starr totaled 13 points and four assists. Stallings was averaging 7.2 ppg entering the game and Hill was posting 5.0 ppg. The duo accounted for 32 points in the win on Thursday.

Centenary looks to keep the momentum going as it hosts UMKC (8-17, 3-6 Mid-Con) in the Gold Dome on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Kangaroos are coming off of a 74-68 loss at Oral Roberts.